Valve timing device



Aug. 17, 1943. E. F. PIERCE ET AL VALVE TIMING DEVICE Filed March 8, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG.3

F'IG.1

INVENTOR Francis (ZWILegand.

EroLd EPterce. Y

ATTORN-EYS FIG.5

Aug. 17, 1943. E. F. PIERCE ET AL VALVE TIMING DEVICE Filed March 8, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVIENTOR Francas cl Wzega 77d.

Erobd EPzeroe. BY

ATTORNEYS 'nismsby which the. valve tivelyvaried. a

' New "York gaml, Ridge'wood, N. J assignors to Wright Aeronautical Corporation, a corporation lof- This invention relates iprirnarily tofinternal combustion engines and is concerned in particuf lar withimprovements in the valve operating 7 mechanism thereof.

In modern aircraft'engin'es mum power is produced whentheintake and exhaust valves. are so timedthat there is substantial in particular, rnaiii V before top center while-the exhaust valve closes; ab uQZGf after top 'center-p Although such large n overlap is advantageous during operation under powergfit has a. tendency .to' cause erratic engine op'eration during idling and to produce difiicuh g V ties in engine starting. QAccordinglm'ifiis an ob-r 1 jeetoi this invention tto 'provicle means by which valve timing may beialtereclduring-engine operation and to so alter the valve timinggthatvalve s er a sn n mi ed der t r in d l r Y conditions andis opened up under running oone" ditionstothe full amount necessary for. maxi-5 mum power, The *above objectives may Joe/ob tained by selectively retarding intake valve openv ing. timing or .advancingexhaust valve closingtiming, or both, under starting and idling condi tions, and a. further object of the 'invention'consists ilfljhDIfGViSiOll of several alternate rnechatiming ma id Further objects of -be construed as limiting the scope of the inyen I Fig. 1 is a section through a canr follower. and valve; actuating device 7 comprising one alterna* tive of; the invention; 1' 7 Figs. 2 and 3 are elevations of parts of the structure oi Fig l; r I 1:.

Fig. l is a section-entire seet ing Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is asection 'througha camfollower'andf valve actuating mechanismaccording-to an a1ternate'oonstruction; 1

- "3,6 is a seotionthrough a cam follower and alternate construction; a

valve actuatinginechanism according to another the inventionponsistin the provision of a mechanical valve timing altering mechanisrn and further, in theprovision of hy- "drauliovalve timingaltering mechanism;

-As her ei-n diselosed severalalternate mechanisrns areofieredd whiclr illustrate the principles i volve?! bu t e s e qm ch n sie e {no t l intake and] exhaustjvalv'es, the i not'been shown andonly thei'c j nisms by which mier-refertmemay e memes *Fig -ng is a valve timing diagrein showingcon-Q ventional valve overlap and; possible alterations in valve timing afforded by the use or the leve 5 tion; w i "Fig.9 is a- -I'ragmentary sections through the 7 v valve tappet planesof'anfengine showing intake overlap oofthe opening oi exhaust and int akev i I l .valvesat the-top. of; the exhaust stroke this over- 7 I lap at timesreaching aivalue of aloouteofl' With 'such pverlap; the intake valveopens about-20 t andexha'ust tap'pets; 1

ally vens 11yDeof internal combustion-engine using anisrns are disclosed sihcefthey arethe secured r thesolid line portionsiridicate normaljv-alve tifn} 7 ing, theinitials 1,0. denotin vintake valveopene ing which about Z'O'f-Ibei re 'topibenteii; I. C. 7 indicates Fintake ,clo'sin which] is "about; 20?: "afterv bottom centerj E. 0. represents exli I valvegopening whiohioccurs fro'rri, Boto 90 forekbottomcenter, and indicates .eXh ust valve closing whichfoccurs about 20? after top center, these valve eventsbeingishown accordingtonorinal running conditions. ltisvappar entthat the valve overlaporlthe ariglehetween I. "O /and E. C. is around 4 0?; angle may vary and is of oourseiarfactorof the design'lof an individual engine. [Now ifint'ake; opening time ing be retarded orif exh'aiist valvegclosing timing be advanced as indicated by thedotted lines, valve overlap would be correspondingly reduced where-' 7 by imbrovedjstarting and idling'fcharacteristics v v'louldresult 'but unless the'overlap' be increased after operation, fuel economy and high power operation would be interfered with. 1

Fig.9; shows in 'general a cam I0 wand {16'-engagingrollers of cam followers L4 49 casing and i' lidablein 'guides IZse ured'tQjaneng ine" IL TheI-tappets. include me an's for ene gagernent with'push'rodsifi extending toward the cylindenvalve gear through appropriaterpushrod,

V housings i In order to retardintak'e"valveopeningor to. I advance exhaustvalve closlng,'two modes of approach areopen: The slack or clearance in the valve operating systemmay be increased by which early, respectivelv' valve clearanceto effect late obening of, the r neperse' has follower mechr:

valve timing alteratio .mayf'b having lobes igs 1 and 5 show 'mchanisnis for altering take valve or early closing of the exhaust valve,

while Fig. 6 shows a mechanism for shifting the cam follower which; is applicable either to the exhaust or intake valve according to the direction of adjustment; V

Referring Specifically to Fig. 1, It) shows a radial cylinderaircraftl engines, while I shows a portion of the engine casing to which a cam follower guide I2 and a housing I3 are secured, the guide l2 carrying a non-rotatable cam'fol- 1ower M for reciprocation therein in response to raising. of the cam follower roller l5 by a cam lobe Hi. The follower l4 comprises acylinder whose top face isslanted as at Hand includes a botgear, without influencing the clearance adjust sector of a multi lobe cam such as is used on also shows a pumpJ3| adapted to deliver oil through passages 32, 33, and 34 to the'hollow push rod 25 for ultimate lubrication of the valve ment feature afforded by the pump 20.

In Fig. 7 we show a solid cam follower 40 having a roller 4| engage'ablewith the cam l0 and 'mounted for reciprocation'inj a cam follower guide 42. The push rod 25 directly engages the top face of the cam follower. The engine casing 43 is provided with an opening which is elongated in the plane of rotation of the cam,

tom drilling |8 communicating with a pressure oil passage [9 adapted to be fed from an engine driven fluidpump which is driven by the en.- gine by means not shown. Within the cylinder of the cam follower I4 is a piston 2| which is reciprocable, both with and with respect to the cam follower, this piston having an orlflce 22.

which, when'fluid pressure. isimpressed within the cylinden'unco'vers the face H as the piston is raised in the follower, thereby providing an overflow for pressure fluid and "limiting the exas shown at in Fig. 7, so that the cam follower guide fli may be bodily shifted, with the cam follower, in either an advancing or, retarding direction with respect to the cam l0; To the guide 42 a segment 45 of an internal gear is setent to which the .pistonmay be raised relative to the cam follower. The piston includ es elongated gear teeth .23 at its upper end engaged for rotative adjustment by teethM of a bar mounted fo lateral adjustment in the housing I3,

and the pistonf is also 'provided on its top face withja vs lherical recess engaged by a valve actuatingpushrodfik .In normalvoperation, the piston 2| will be ro-' tated bythebar 25 so that the orifice is disposed cured as at '46,-this being engaged by a pinion 41 whichmay be rotated by a piston rod 48 pivoted thereto-and actuated by a piston 49 slidable in a cylinder 53'. The cylinder may be selectively fed with pressure fluid from a pump 5| and a spring 52 serves to return the piston toward the head of the cylinder '50 when no fluid pressure is available from the pump 5|; In the preferred arrangementfthe elements to -52 will be so arranged that either the intake valve timing will be retarded orthe exhaust valve timing will be advanced when the pump 5| is-n0t delivering or when the piston 49 is. displaced by the spring 52,-

, the spring 52 thus holding thevalve timing in the above mentioned positions '9 When full -pressure is deliveredbythe pump 5| or'when the spring I v52 is'comp'ressed as during full power. operation opposite the uppermostpar't of theslanted; face IT. As the engine operates; the pump 20will, provide sufllcient fluid to hold the piston 2| in an elevated position with respect to' the -cam -fol-.

, lower to maintain minimum valve clearance while reciprocating therewith. Under'idling conditions;

however, the bar 25 may be adjusted to'turn the of the 'engine the pinion 41" will be" retarded, against the action ofth spring 52, to normalize valve timing for-full valve overlap. p

Although we ha've shown only onefcamfollower assembly in' each, ofthe several detailed embodimentsof the inventiom-it is contemplated that a n'umberof cam'followers as in Fig. 9,"appropriate a 'thenumber of-cylinders inthe engine, "be

piston 2| so that the orifice 22 uncovers a relatively lower point on the slanted cylinder face I1 I whereby valve clearance is increased with conadvancing of exhaust valve closing. V

In'Fig. 5, the cam'follower M includes a top abutment 3|) against whichithe piston 2| may sequent retarding of the intake valve opening or ab'ut,thus forming a positivjestop. When the pump 20 is in operation the cylinder of the'ca mfollower l-l is filed with pressure fluid, holding theplston 2| against the stop '30 for minimum valve clearance as is desired during normalengine operation. When the engine is throttled down for idlin g, or when the engine is stopped, the

connected in parallel's othat they will be coincidentally adjusted for control of valve timing.

While we have described our invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, it will I be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding our invention, that various changes and modifications may be made thereinWithoutdepump 29 .will be disconnected or'the delivery thereof bypassed or throttled ina suitable manner so that little or no pressure'fluid isdelivered to the c'arn follower'cylinder. Apump bypass" is shown at 50 wherein fil'is a spring loadedrelief valve having a bleed orifice 62'through which secure maximumvalve clearance. f

pumped fluid leaks at lowengine speedwithout 1 afiecting'the valve tappet. As engineand pump speed increase, the pump delivery is too great to pass the orifice 62 unless the'pressure be raised substantially; this pressure rise raises the piston 2| in the cam follower andexce'ss pressure is relieved through the spring loaded valve 6 I At low engine speeds, pump pressure islow and the piston 2| will drop in the cam follower to allow of a greatly increased valve operating clearance tothe end that'intake valve O ening may be retar'ded or exhaust valve closlngadvanced. Fig.5

parting from the spirit or scope thereoff We aim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and cha'nges; i We clainias'our invention? 1. In engine valve operating mechanism comprising a cam,-a cam follower comprising a cylsitions 'o'f'the piston-in the cylinder, means tofeed hydraulic fluid to the cam follower cylinder to hold said piston in one said limitingposition, and a device to operativelydisconnect said feeding means from'the cam follower at low engine speeds.

3; In an engine 'jvalve operating maximum 'valve clearance 1 adjustments; and

means responsive to high speed engine operation mechanism, a cam'follower comprising a.iiiylinderya piston; reciprocable' therein, stop "mcfit s" to limit the; I amount of reciprocative movement of the pistonrelative tothe cylinder to give 'minimum and a se s:

to feed pressure fluidyto the cylinder to hold-said piston in engagement with; one -ofsaid -Jstop 'means to secure minimum valve clearance and v responsive .to low engine speed to suppress said j fluid feed to allow engagement of said piston with I the other of said'stop means to attain maximum V valve clearance. r p 7. l 7 4. In an engine valve. operatingme'chanism, a

cam, a valve operating assemblycomprisinga1a cylinder element and a piston elementreciprocable therein, one said element beingactuated by the cam and the other being operatively con,-

nected. to the valve, limit stops in the valve operating assembly establishing'a minimum valve clearance position'and a maximum valve clearspeedswto maintain hydraulic pressure on said tap'pet assemblydand means responsive to low M engine speeds; such as idlingvspeei to suppress 'theihydraulic pressure exerted on saidi'tappetq Y 'assemblyr'} H 1 g V fi/In an engine valve operating mechanism, a cam; a valve tappet assembly actuatable by said cam and extendiblerunder hydraulic' pressure V to provide minimum clearance in said mechanism;

ance position respectivelyidetermined by the rela-I tive positions of said piston in said cylinder,

meansto feed hydraulic fluid to said cylnder to hold-the Piston in the position for minimum valve clearance, and adevice responsiveto lowengine' speed for suppressing said feeding means whereby the piston moves in. the cylinder to the position:

' r a so i for maximum valve clearance.

engine driven means operable to supply fluid' under pressure to said assembly to provide said f minimumclearance, and a leakage path operable to by-passaportion of the fiuidsupplied by said engineldrive"means, said leakage path being in-' reflective at highvengine speeds but efiective at low. engine} speeds to provide suflicient leakage of thefluid supplied by saidengine driven means to render said fluid incapable of maintaining said 7 minimum clearance upon cam actuation.

EROLD F. PIERCE, I

FRANCIS 'J. WIEGAND; 

